I nod. “I want to see you happy,” I mutter, like an idiot. I can’t find a better way to express how I feel about her, or how the last thing I want is to make her panic. “We shouldn’t scare you for no reason.”
“I…” she sighs and turns away from me, leaning against the window and staring out at the rain.
She never finishes her sentence, and we drive the rest of the way to her apartment in silence.
I walkBlair to her unit, pausing at her front door.
“I don’t want you to be alone right now,” I tell her while she unlocks the door.
“I want to be alone.”
She won’t look at me.
“You shouldn’t be,” I say, my voice low. “At least let me tuck you into your nest. I can stay until you fall asleep, then call a ride.”
No response. Her attention is solely focused on unlocking the door.
“Blair,” I growl, and she drops her keys while trying to put one into the lock. “Talkto me. Tell me what I can do.”
After she grabs her keys off the ground, she successfully unlocks her door. “You can let me have time to myself,” she says quietly.
Finally, she looks at me again.
There’s nothing behind her eyes but a wall of ice.
It’s fucking terrifying.
I swallow and let out a breath.
“Thanks for getting me home,” she says. “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
I want to shake her.
I’m not speaking to Blair.
I’m talking to someone that’s haunted by memories I can’t see and ghosts I can’t fight.
“Omega,” I whisper, a hint of command in my voice.
She freezes for a moment, her lips slightly parting.
But then, the icy gaze is back.
“Good night, Travis,” she whispers.
She gives me a sad smile and enters her apartment, shutting the door behind her.
I hear the click of the lock, and stare at the closed door, fighting the urge to bang my fists against it and demand she let me in.
I cansmellher despair through the apartment walls, and she won’t let me help her.
Omega is suffering.
My scent match is in pain, and not only is it because of me, but I’m helpless to do anything about it.
I’m going to lose my mind.
Piper, who has watched the whole exchange in her car from the parking lot, flashes her lights at me after I’ve stared at the door for far too long.
